World’s largest iceberg threatens island that is a refuge for seals and penguins

The largest iceberg in the world could threaten a remote island in the southern Atlantic that serves as a refuge for thousands of penguins and seals, who would no longer be able to eat properly, scientists warned.

Global warming has caused the separation of Antarctic icebergs, such as the A68, a giant mass of one billion tonnes that separated in 2017 from the Larsen C glacier platform on the Antarctic Peninsula.

With the speed at which it travels, it will take between 20 and 30 days to reach the shallow waters that surround South Georgia, an island under British sovereignty.

160 kilometers long, 48 wide but less than 200 meters high, the iceberg may come dangerously close to the island’s coast, with 50% probability of a collision, British scientist Andrew Fleming, who monitors Antarctica, told AFP news agency.

The scenario would endanger the lives of several thousand penguins, seals and albatrosses. If the iceberg gets too close to the island, it could impair the animals’ ability to feed their young, which, like baby seals, will be under threat.

It may also compromise the seabed ecosystem, which may take decades or centuries to recover. “This iceberg has accumulated nutrients and dust for hundreds of years that are released little by little and fertilize the oceans,” he said.

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